‘Planet of the Apes:’ Caesar’s origins differ in the series, but lead to the same fate

In this image released by Twentieth Century Fox, Caesar the chimp, a CG animal portrayed by Andy Serkis, and James Franco are shown in a scene from "Rise of the Planet of the Apes ." Studio estimates Sunday pegged "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" at $27.5 million, good enough for its second-straight No. 1 finish. The 20th Century Fox release raised its 10-day domestic total to $104.9 million(AP Photo/Twentieth Century Fox)

In this image released by Twentieth Century Fox, Caesar the chimp, a CG animal portrayed by Andy Serkis is shown in a scene from "Rise of the Planet of the Apes ." (AP Photo/Twentieth Century Fox)

Caesar originally is the son of the talking apes Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter).

He first appeared as a baby in the 1971 sequel “Escape from the Planet of the Apes” (voiced by Walker Edmiston). His parents were the scientists who put their standing within the ape world at risk by aiding George Taylor (Charlton Heston), a human among the mute people who could talk, in “Planet of the Apes” (1968). So they passed on their open-mindedness regarding humans to their son.

Caesar originally was named Milo after Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo), who travels back in time with Cornelius and Zira to the Earth of Taylor’s time in “Escape from the Planet of the Apes.” Things go wrong, and finally Cornelius and Zira find sanctuary in a circus run by Armando (Ricardo Montalban). There, Zira gives birth to Milo. He speaks his first word, “Mama,” at the end of the film.

In “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (1972), Armando starts addressing Milo (now played by McDowall) as Caesar, and when Armando is killed, the ape begins to see the cruelty of man. In his anger, Caesar becomes an organizer of an ape revolt.

Despite that, Caesar has not forgotten his parents’ belief that not all humans are bad. This puts him at odds with some of his more intense fellow apes.

By “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” (1973), Caesar, long dead, is immortalized in a statue. An orangutan named Lawgiver (John Huston) recalls the story of Caesar as ruler of Ape City. The movie is a flashback telling of Caesar’s reign. It is in this movie that Caesar realizes the ruling apes have become as bad as humans were when they were in charge.

Caesar was not in the 2001 Tim Burton-directed “Planet of the Apes” (which is not considered a remake), but returned under a different storyline in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011).

Will Rodman (James Franco) is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease by performing tests on apes for a pharmaceutical company in the San Francisco area. One of the first test subjects is Caesar’s mother, Bright Eyes (which coincidentally was what Zira in the original “Planet of the Apes” called Taylor until he identified himself), who was captured in Africa.

Rodman’s possible cure, ALZ-112, genetically increases Bright Eyes’ intelligence, which is passed on to Caesar in the womb. After Bright Eyes is killed trying to protect the newborn Caesar, all other test apes are ordered destroyed. The sympathetic ape handler, Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine), rescues Caesar and gives him to Rodman, who smuggles the baby chimp out of the lab and takes him to his home.

Caesar spends years living with Rodman and his father Charles and, from his time as an infant, shows intelligence that far surpasses humans at his age.

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After an incident in which Caesar attacks their aggressive neighbor who was threatening Charles (John Lithgow), he is taken to an ape sanctuary and ends up being tormented by the caretakers.

He is smart enough to break free from his cage, and gets hold of Rodman’s stronger version of the intelligence-enhancing formula, ALZ-113, which is inhaled, and releases it among the other captive apes.

The animals escape the sanctuary and are joined by other captive apes from the zoo and the lab, rallying to escape San Francisco, and clashing with police.

Caesar initially is compassionate, forbidding his followers from killing innocent humans, but this is not accepted by another ape, Koba (Christopher Gordon).

The apes escape to the redwood forest outside the city, with Rodman and Caesar sharing an emotional farewell as Caesar decides to live free among his own kind.